Namaste!!
So, as you may already know, we left Nepal last Monday and headed back to India. As soon as we set foot in Delhi, we wanted to leave. Of course, this was always the plan, but still... Delhi is awful. It's hectic, pushy, mean, and just downright horrible. We went straight to the train station, where we were redirected to the tourist office, where we were redirected to the Government Tourist Office... there, although we still felt like we were being scammed (we probably were), we paid a somewhat exorbitant amount of money for a personal chauffeur and car for the week we are spending in India. Although it was a lot of money, we think it has been worth it... Sanju, our driver, is friendly, speaks good English and is a surprisingly safe driver.
So, on Monday night at around 2 am, we arrived in Jaipur, the Pink City. We were supposed to go sightseeing on Tuesday, but Steph somehow managed to get a 103 fever and major puking issues, so that got put off. We did go out that night, however, and sat through a 3 hour Hindi movie which we absolutely did not understand. It was cool, though, because the theatre looks like a giant pink cream puff, the inside looks like a really fancy reception hall, and watching the people watch the movie was priceless. They laughed out loud, they clapped, they hooted, they talked on their cell phones. It was wonderful. The next day, we started out with a visit to the Amber Fort. It's supposedly made of "pink" sandstone, but it was considerably less pink than everything else around. It's up on top of a hill overlooking the city and a very cool place to visit, but we think the term Fort is probably pushing it... seemed more like a palace to us... not very strong at all.
Next, we went to see the water palace. While we could only view this from afar (it's in the middle of a lake and only the king goes there with his girlfriends), it was super cool. The palace sits on a platform in the middle of the lake but, when the water is high, it looks like it is sinking. There's really no good way to describe it, so we'll ask you to google it or wait to see the photos.
After that, we went to see the City Palace. It was pretty freaking lame. Pink, admittedly, which helps, but otherwise lame. So we will not elaborate. We did, however, see a palm reader there, which was fun. We now know exactly how long we will live, when we will get married, how many kids we will have, and how "rich" we will be. This is, of course, an exact science, so if all does not go as planned, we will be flying back to India to hunt this guy down.
The next day, we headed to Ranthambhore, for a safari through their national park. The main attraction here is, naturally, the elusive tiger. We did not, however, see or hear one, so we were sorely disappointed. If there had been anything else to see in the park, it might have made it slightly more exciting, but as it stands, we saw all the best wildlife in the street on the way there - camels, pigs, dogs, sheep. Real wild. As there is literally nothing else to do in Ranthambhore and we got back from the safari at 9 am, we spent the rest of the day alternately sleeping, eating and watching the one English channel on our TV. We watched countless episodes of Glee, Criminal Minds and Master Chef Australia. Riveting stuff.
Today, we hopped in our private car and drove the 6 hours to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. We settled into the hotel, went for lunch, then headed to the Taj for sunset. It was awesome!!!!! The Taj Mahal always seemed like something that was so far removed from reality that you could never actually end up there, looking it straight on and getting close enough to tough. But we were, and it was really surreal. They say that, once it was completed, the king who had it built chopped off the hands of everyone who worked on it so that it could never be recreated. Having now seen it in person, we totally condone this move... it's really one of a kind. Of course, being the tourists we are, we also paid 100 rupees (2 dollars) to have our photos taken by a "professional" and have it look like we are holding the building up. Very clever.
Tomorrow morning, we are already leaving Agra and heading back to Delhi. There, we are living in the lap of luxury (thanks to the Ladner parentals) for 2 days (and absolutely not leaving the hotel - see paragraph 1) then coming home on Tuesday. On Monday night, we will post a final list of all the crazy stuff we've seen so far, so be sure to check that out!!
See you soon!
Steph and Kas
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Namaste Nepal, Pheri Betaula
Namaste!
So, for the past 3 days, we have been getting up at 5 o'clock for various reasons and we are here to tell you that it basically sucks.
On Friday, we got up at five and hauled our asses to the airport, where we were supposed to board a flight and get outstanding views of the Himalayas and, more importantly, Mount Everest. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy (as should be expected in monsoon season, I suppose) so the flight was canceled. We rescheduled it and headed home for what we felt was a well-deserved nap. Later that afternoon, we headed out to Pashupatinath, Kathmandu's most important Hindu temple. Only Hindus are allowed into the main part, so we had to stick to the outskirts, but we did get to witness a Buddhist cremation ceremony (why would they do this at a Hindu temple, you ask? Well, we don't know... but there is one side for Hindus and one for Buddhists). The ceremony was quite depressing, as it was a funeral, but very interesting at the same time. Kas got it all on tape (despite Steph's insistence that it was slightly intrusive to film a grieving family) so if anyone wants to see it, you will be able to do so in ten days' time. As we were leaving the temple, we met a Sadhu who told us he could lift a 50 pound rocks with his penis. Although some people feel that this should never be done or seen (Steph), others are desperate to witness it (Kas) so we stuck around. The Sadhu proceeded to remove all his clothing and tie his underwear into something resembling a rope. He then tied his "rope" around the rock like a sling and hooked the other end halfway onto his shaft. He then grabbed the end of his penis with his hand and lifted. It was shocking, to say the least, and only photos can truly convey the nature of the experience.
On Saturday, it was another 5 o'clock morning, but this one was well worth it. At 5:45, we met a group of people at the Last Resort office in Thamel. We hopped on a bus and, 4 hours and a flat tire later, arrived at the Tibetan border where we would be bungee jumping. We got off the bus and crossed a rickety suspension bridge to the resort for our safety instructions, all the while looking down and realizing that, holy shit, this is where we have to jump from. At 160 metres high, this is the highest bungee jump in Asia and the longest canyon swing free-fall. When we were ready to get started, we headed out onto the bridge again, where they strapped us in one by one to send us on our way - down, that is. While we awaited our turn, we were left standing on this very high bridge, swinging in the wind and rendered that much worse by all the son-to-be jumpers craning over one side to get a glimpse of others jumping before them and a glimmer of hope from their non-death. As we swayed back and forth in the wind, the canyon filled with echoing screams from fellow bungee-ers. The anticipation very nearly killed us.
Our first jump was the canyon swing. They strapped us in to a full-body harness (one at a time, of course) with a rope, not an elastic, firmly attached to our midsection. Then, we were asked to walk to the edge of a very narrow platform and, on the count of "3, 2, 1, Swing!", jump off with our feet leading the way. We then proceeded to free-fall into a rocky gorge and raging river for a full 8 seconds before the rope finally kicked in and swung us nice and smoothly, back and forth over the gorge a few times until a rope was finally sent out our way and we were able to reel ourselves back in. Of course, 8 seconds sounds like nothing. In our minds, it goes by in the snap of our fingers. But in a moment when you are plummeting down over rocky crags and raging waters, those 8 seconds stretch into an eternity and you can't help but think "Shouldn't this rope be working by now?"
Our second jump was the bungee jump. At this point, we couldn't decide whether this would be more or less scary than the swing (we still can't!). This time, we were harnessed in with nothing but a glorified elastic tied between our ankles. This time we had to waddle to the very edge of the platform with a surprisingly familiar feeling of walking the plank and being thrown to the sharks. On "3, 2, 1, Bungee!" we now had to jump face first, more like a dive, directly into this crazy canyon. The free-fall is about 3 seconds long before the elastic finally springs into life and saves you from what was sure to be a horrific death. A few bounces later, a giant bamboo stick materialized before our eyes and lowered us onto solid ground.
Of course, when we signed up for this, we knew we were doing something crazy, perhaps even stupid. What we didn't know was that the walk back up to the bridge is just as treacherous as the jumps themselves. At the bottom of the gorge, we stood before an incredibly steep, leech-infested, water-slicked path leading all the way back up those 160 metres we'd just cleared in less than a minute.
This morning, our third 5 am start in as many days, we headed back to the airport for our second attempt at the mountain flight. Success! We got on the plane at 7:45 and, within 15 minutes, had a full view of the Himalayas. Everest came and went and, an hour later we touched back down in Kathmandu. We would go on and on about the flight and how cool the sights were, but we think we will let the pictures do the talking when we get home.
Tomorrow, we are off to India for Pink Cities, Taj Mahal, and a few moments of luxury before heading home on the 10th.
See you soon!!
Steph and Kas
So, for the past 3 days, we have been getting up at 5 o'clock for various reasons and we are here to tell you that it basically sucks.
On Friday, we got up at five and hauled our asses to the airport, where we were supposed to board a flight and get outstanding views of the Himalayas and, more importantly, Mount Everest. Unfortunately, the weather was crappy (as should be expected in monsoon season, I suppose) so the flight was canceled. We rescheduled it and headed home for what we felt was a well-deserved nap. Later that afternoon, we headed out to Pashupatinath, Kathmandu's most important Hindu temple. Only Hindus are allowed into the main part, so we had to stick to the outskirts, but we did get to witness a Buddhist cremation ceremony (why would they do this at a Hindu temple, you ask? Well, we don't know... but there is one side for Hindus and one for Buddhists). The ceremony was quite depressing, as it was a funeral, but very interesting at the same time. Kas got it all on tape (despite Steph's insistence that it was slightly intrusive to film a grieving family) so if anyone wants to see it, you will be able to do so in ten days' time. As we were leaving the temple, we met a Sadhu who told us he could lift a 50 pound rocks with his penis. Although some people feel that this should never be done or seen (Steph), others are desperate to witness it (Kas) so we stuck around. The Sadhu proceeded to remove all his clothing and tie his underwear into something resembling a rope. He then tied his "rope" around the rock like a sling and hooked the other end halfway onto his shaft. He then grabbed the end of his penis with his hand and lifted. It was shocking, to say the least, and only photos can truly convey the nature of the experience.
On Saturday, it was another 5 o'clock morning, but this one was well worth it. At 5:45, we met a group of people at the Last Resort office in Thamel. We hopped on a bus and, 4 hours and a flat tire later, arrived at the Tibetan border where we would be bungee jumping. We got off the bus and crossed a rickety suspension bridge to the resort for our safety instructions, all the while looking down and realizing that, holy shit, this is where we have to jump from. At 160 metres high, this is the highest bungee jump in Asia and the longest canyon swing free-fall. When we were ready to get started, we headed out onto the bridge again, where they strapped us in one by one to send us on our way - down, that is. While we awaited our turn, we were left standing on this very high bridge, swinging in the wind and rendered that much worse by all the son-to-be jumpers craning over one side to get a glimpse of others jumping before them and a glimmer of hope from their non-death. As we swayed back and forth in the wind, the canyon filled with echoing screams from fellow bungee-ers. The anticipation very nearly killed us.
Our first jump was the canyon swing. They strapped us in to a full-body harness (one at a time, of course) with a rope, not an elastic, firmly attached to our midsection. Then, we were asked to walk to the edge of a very narrow platform and, on the count of "3, 2, 1, Swing!", jump off with our feet leading the way. We then proceeded to free-fall into a rocky gorge and raging river for a full 8 seconds before the rope finally kicked in and swung us nice and smoothly, back and forth over the gorge a few times until a rope was finally sent out our way and we were able to reel ourselves back in. Of course, 8 seconds sounds like nothing. In our minds, it goes by in the snap of our fingers. But in a moment when you are plummeting down over rocky crags and raging waters, those 8 seconds stretch into an eternity and you can't help but think "Shouldn't this rope be working by now?"
Our second jump was the bungee jump. At this point, we couldn't decide whether this would be more or less scary than the swing (we still can't!). This time, we were harnessed in with nothing but a glorified elastic tied between our ankles. This time we had to waddle to the very edge of the platform with a surprisingly familiar feeling of walking the plank and being thrown to the sharks. On "3, 2, 1, Bungee!" we now had to jump face first, more like a dive, directly into this crazy canyon. The free-fall is about 3 seconds long before the elastic finally springs into life and saves you from what was sure to be a horrific death. A few bounces later, a giant bamboo stick materialized before our eyes and lowered us onto solid ground.
Of course, when we signed up for this, we knew we were doing something crazy, perhaps even stupid. What we didn't know was that the walk back up to the bridge is just as treacherous as the jumps themselves. At the bottom of the gorge, we stood before an incredibly steep, leech-infested, water-slicked path leading all the way back up those 160 metres we'd just cleared in less than a minute.
This morning, our third 5 am start in as many days, we headed back to the airport for our second attempt at the mountain flight. Success! We got on the plane at 7:45 and, within 15 minutes, had a full view of the Himalayas. Everest came and went and, an hour later we touched back down in Kathmandu. We would go on and on about the flight and how cool the sights were, but we think we will let the pictures do the talking when we get home.
Tomorrow, we are off to India for Pink Cities, Taj Mahal, and a few moments of luxury before heading home on the 10th.
See you soon!!
Steph and Kas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)